And while the number of detected poisonings has fallen in recent years, the killings still pose a “significant threat” to Scotland's birds of prey.

There were 16 other incidents recorded during 2011, including a buzzard which starved to death in a crow trap and a goshawk’s nest destroyed, as well as a short-eared owl, two peregrines and three buzzards being found shot.

Ian Thomson, head of investigations at RSPB Scotland, said: “It is clear that there is a long way to go before these crimes are eradicated.”

Duncan Orr-Ewing, the charity`s head of species and land management, said: “These crimes can have a devastating impact on the long-term population of rare and slow-breeding species.”